Fun Facts for Wednesday, December 31, 2014
The 365 day of the year
Today is the last day of the year!
THIS WEEK IS
- New Year's Resolutions Week
- Celebration of Life Week
- Diet Resolution Week
- Silent Record Week
TODAY IS
- Look On The Bright Side Day
- Make Up Your Mind Day
- New Years Eve
- No Interruptions Day
- Universal Hour of Peace Day
- World Peace Meditation Day
- National Champagne Day
ON THIS DATE...
1600: The British East India Company is chartered.
1695: The window tax was imposed in Britain, which resulted in many windows being bricked up.
1781: The first modern bank in the U.S., the Bank of North America, was organized by Robert Morris and received its charter from the Confederation Congress. It began operating in Philadelphia.
1790: Efimeris, the oldest Greek newspaper of which issues have survived till today is published for the first time.
1796: The incorporation of Baltimore as a city.
1841: The State of Alabama enacted the first dental legislation in the U.S.
1857: Britain's Queen Victoria decided to make Ottawa the capital of Canada.
1877: President Rutherford B. Hayes became the first president to celebrate his 25th wedding anniversary in the White House.
1879: Thomas Edison gave the first public demonstration of incandescent lighting at his Menlo Park, New Jersey, laboratory.
1890: New York's Ellis Island opened as a US. immigration depot.
1929: Guy Lombardo and his orchestra played "Auld Lang Syne" for the first time to ring in the new year. The song quickly became a holiday tradition.
1935: Charles Darrow was issued a patent for the game of Monopoly.
1938: Dr. R.N. Harger introduced his "Drunkometer." The device was the first breath test for drivers.
1940: As a result of a dispute between the radio networks and ASCAP (the American Society of Composers and Publishers), the radio industry was prevented from playing any ASCAP-licensed music. The ban lasted for ten months. An ASCAP competitor, BMI (Broadcast Music Incorporated) made giant strides, expanding to include 36,000 copyrights. Many radio stations had to resort to playing public domain songs, such as marches and operas, to keep their stations on the air. Even kids songs were played over and over again until the ban was lifted. One of the most popular songs to be played was Happy Birthday to You; which was performed in many different languages just to get past the ban.
1946: President Harry Truman officially proclaimed the end of World War Two.
1947: Roy Rogers and Dale Evans were married.
1951: "Wild Bill Hickok" begin its five-year run on Mutual Network radio.
1960: The farthing coin, which had been in use in Great Britain since the 13th century, ceased to be legal tender.
1967: the Green Bay Packers beat the Dallas Cowboys 21-to-17 to win the National Football League Championship. The game became known as the Ice Bowl because it was played in a wind chill of 40-degrees below zero on the "frozen tundra of Lambeau Field" in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
1972: "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve" aired for the first time on ABC.
1974: Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined the group Fleetwood Mac.
1974: Private U.S. citizens were allowed to buy and own gold for the first time in more than 40 years.
1975: Elvis Presley earned 800-thousand dollars for his performance at the Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan. The amount remains a world record for a single concert by a single performer.
1981: CNN's "Headline News" made its debut.
1984: Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen was injured in a car accident. The crash resulted in the amputation of his left arm.
1985: singer, actor Rick Nelson died at the age of 45. Nelson and six others perished when fire broke out aboard a plane that was carrying the group to a New Year's Eve performance in Dallas, Texas.
1986: Florida became the country's fifth most populous state behind California, New York, Texas and Pennsylvania.
1991: Lee Iacocca stepped down as chairman of the Chrysler Corporation.
1995: Bill Watterson's comic strip "Calvin and Hobbes" ended syndication. It began on November 18, 1985.
1996: former Beatle Paul McCartney was knighted.
1997: singer, actor Will Smith married actress Jada Pinkett.
1997; In an attempt to nudge its Microsoft Network into a more competetive position (vs. America Online), Microsoft announced the purchase of Hotmail, the free Web-based e-mail service.
2004: TV personality Regis Philbin hosted "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve 2005:" filling in for an ailing Dick Clark who had suffered a mild stroke weeks earlier. The show marked the first time in 32 years that Clark had not hosted his annual New Year's Eve special from New York City's Times Square.
2012: more than 13 million viewers tuned in to watch ABC's "Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve" special. Hosted by Ryan Seacrest in its 40th year, it was the first such special since Clark's passing earlier in the year at the age of 82.
HISTORY SPOTLIGHT
Edison demonstrates first incandescent lightbulb (Taken from Link)
In the first public demonstration of his incandescent lightbulb, American inventor Thomas Alva Edison lights up a street in Menlo Park, New Jersey. The Pennsylvania Railroad Company ran special trains to Menlo Park on the day of the demonstration in response to public enthusiasm over the event.
QUICK TRIVIA
Happy New Year's Eve! (Taken from Link)
Civilizations around the world have been celebrating the start of each new year for at least four millennia. Today, most New Year’s festivities begin on December 31 (New Year’s Eve), the last day of the Gregorian calendar, and continue into the early hours of January 1 (New Year’s Day). Common traditions include attending parties, eating special New Year’s foods, making resolutions for the new year and watching fireworks displays.
In 1904, folks in New York celebrated the first New Year’s Eve in Times Square. Estimates are that about 200,000 people showed up. Today, more than a million people, pack into Times Square every New Year's Eve--others simply watch the ball drop from the comfort of their living room.
WORD OF THE DAY
dithyrambic \dith-uh-RAM-bik\, adjective:
1. Wildly enthusiastic.
"Kate was dithyrambic about beginning her diet in the new year, until she found out the diet did not include nut rolls. "
INTRIGUING BIBLE FACT
The psalmist used metaphors concerning illumination to describe God's Word
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.(Psalm 119:105)
WORD FROM THE WORD
[The Israelites] set out . . . to cross over the Jordan, with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before [them]. —Joshua 3:14
Read Our Daily Bread
0 comments:
Post a Comment